LIAM DARMODYᵍᵐ

Personal Brand Strategist & Networking Coach → I help entrepreneurs, executives & teams build brands to attract clients, talent & opportunity | Family Man | Connector | AI & Blockchain Bull | Hot Sauce Aficionado🌶️

I help founders, entrepreneurs, and executives build businesses by becoming trusted, visible, and referenceable in their space. My work sits at the intersection of personal brand strategy, go-to-market execution, and AI-enabled operations. I help people understand how to show up across LinkedIn, search, and AI-driven discovery and how that visibility turns into real opportunity over time.

Currently, I'm working with Brandi (mybrandi.ai), helping companies understand how they show up inside AI-generated answers and recommendations, and how brand visibility, trust, and demand are increasingly shaped by systems they do not directly control.

Seeing this shift up close has changed how I help individuals and teams show up online.

A core part of my approach is what I call Voice Enablement with AI.

Instead of writing for people, I teach them how to use AI to think, draft, and create content in their own voice. Most clients stop writing from scratch and start editing instead. Content creation becomes faster, more consistent, and still unmistakably human.

How? Because we are using your actual voice!

What I help with most often:

• Founder and executive positioning and LinkedIn profile strategy
• Personal narrative clarity for humans, AI systems, and decision-makers
• Relationship-based networking and social selling without pressure tactics
• Using AI to streamline content creation, engagement, and workflows
• Measuring what actually matters in brand and go-to-market efforts

Alongside my advisory work, I take on select fractional go-to-market and operations roles, supporting teams during growth, transition, or strategic realignment.

I’m known for helping people:

• Clarify what makes them meaningfully different
• Build trust before asking for anything
• Turn visibility into opportunity over time
• Turn chaos into organized chaos ;)

I call this manifesting serendipity.

It’s not luck. It’s intention, consistency, and showing up in the right conversations long before you need something. It's being in someone's orbit often enough that you become the first person they think of when they need your product or service. 

It's about being top of mind. 

Outside of work, I’m a husband, a dad of two, an early-morning lifter, and a proud hot sauce aficionado 🌶️. 

If you’re building a brand, a business, or your next chapter, I’d love to jam with you. 

Hi5, 
LD

Founder

I help executives, founders, and their teams build magnetic brands that attract clients, talent, and opportunity on LinkedIn. 

My services include: 

My services include: 
- Profile Optimization
- LinkedIn feature training
- Core content strategy
- Ghostediting (ask me about it)
- Content performance analysis 
- Sales Navigator training

Liam's Brand Stand was born out of my passion for personal branding and belief that LinkedIn is the ultimate platform for professionals and organizations to manifest serendipity and unlock opportunity.

This passion started as a fascination that turned into a hobby, then to a side hustle, and now, my full-time focus. I started creating content and being more intentional about building my brand here in January 2020 and since then I've amassed 35,000 followers and my content has garnered ~23,000,000 impressions, ~600,000 reactions, and ~100,000 comments. 

Completely organically.

Pretty crazy, especially when you consider I'm just a suburban dad who took to LinkedIn as a way to have conversation with other adults while cooped up in my house with my wife, a toddler, and an infant during a pandemic. 

That's the kind of opportunity that exists on LinkedIn and I'm on a mission to help more people experience it for themselves. 

If you're interested in doing so, visit: 

liamsbrandstand.com to learn more 
-or- 
calendly.com/liamdarmody to book time with me

Thanks for stopping by! 

Hi5, 
LD

LIAM DARMODY

Today I stepped on the scale & clocked 278lbs. 

I know that sounds like a weird flex, but I have not been in the 270s since August 2016.

Nearly 10 years. 

When I started my business in August 2023, I was 347lbs. 

I couldn’t walk a mile without running out of breath.
I couldn’t walk upstairs without the same.
I feared my kids asking me to play because I knew how hard that would be for me. 

I had spent the better part of 30 years using food as medicine to heal wounds from childhood, which started at A&D burgers in Mississauga, Ontario. 

I decided enough was enough. 

Joined a gym.

Started with 3x per week, which was all I could do back then. 

Then 4x per week. 
Then 5x per week.
And now 6x per week (sometimes ;)

it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, not just because of how challenging the physical workouts are, but because it hasn't garnered massive results overnight.

I've been an all or nothing kind of guy since the beginning of time and I've started and stopped trying to lose weight many times before.

I wanted three months of hard work to magically undo 30 years of unhealthy habits.

It doesn't work like that.

I'm at the point now where the scale doesn't even really matter that much to me because I've realized that which really matters is that I'm showing up in that gym every weekday.

putting in the work to be healthier.

day by day.
Week by week.
Month by month. 
Year by year. 

I may still be round but I'm in the best shape of my life. 

And it feels amazing.

My advice to anyone who has struggled with weight loss is to try this: 

1) Find a gym with coaches & classes. Expert accountability and community are massive motivators. 

2) Go 3-5 days per week for 3 months. Non-negotiable. 

3) Meal prep. Every Sunday I throw 4 lb of ground chicken, a bag of hash brown potatoes, and 15 eggs on a blackstone flat top and make a meal for myself that has 100 g of protein. That's breakfast after the gym every day. 

If you do that, you will notice a change in yourself, not just on the scale but mentally. You will start to believe that you are capable of things you never thought you were capable of. 

And that will motivate you to keep going.

I’m still on my journey. I’ve got a long way to go, but I have zero doubt that I will get there now. 

And that is something I haven’t felt ever before. 

It’s liberating as hell. 

Good luck. 

My DMs are open if you ever want to jam about it.

I’ve got to go carry both of my kids up the stairs now, and I’m proud to say I won’t be winded. 

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

Personal Brand Strategist & Fractional GTM Operator helping founders build their businesses with LinkedIn & AI 🌶️ Hot Sauce Aficionado 🌶️

No alternative text description for this image

HUGE NEWS! 

My incredible wife Megan Bailey Darmody has a new job! She’s swapping floral fragrances, petals, and stems for wax, wicks, and fragrance sticks by joining CandleScience to lead performance marketing. 

CandleScience is one of the largest suppliers and educators in the candle making industry and I am so excited for her (and to have more candles around the house…;)

Megan is an absolute boss and I’m so proud to be her husband. She inspires me every single day. 

Please join me in congratulating her on the new role!

Hi5,
LD
🕯️

Brand Strategist and Fractional GTM Operator helping founders grow their businesses with LinkedIn and AI • Hot Sauce Aficionado 🌶️

This is not okay. 
This is not what America is supposed to be.
This is not what “law enforcement” looks like. 

This is not “the land of the Free”
This is not “the Home of the Brave” 
This is not “one country, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”

This is barbaric.
This is cowardice.
This is fear mongering. 
This is absolutely devastating.

This is the execution of an American citizen exercising his unalienable constitutional rights. 

And it’s f*cking unacceptable.

I am astounded that this continues to happen with seemingly zero repercussions. 

What are we doing? 
How did we get here?

And most importantly, how do we stop it? 

I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on politically, if you are willing to stand by and watch this without speaking up or taking action, you’re not my kind of people. 

Political differences are acceptable—appreciated, even. 

Staying silent as American citizens are murdered by masked “men” beating their chests and brandishing weapons to fuel their bravado is not. 

My heart goes out to the families who have been impacted by these devastating displays of government overreach. 

I cannot begin to comprehend your pain and nothing I say could possibly fill the void left by such a tragic loss.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t say something. 

I will never forget this image. 

Especially not at the polls.

☮️&❤️

My Linkedin strategy for 2026: 

Focus less on Linkedin strategy. 

Focus more on simply sharing who I am, what I know & find interesting, why I'm here, how I think, and investing in building relationships with the people who resonate with that. 

That's not to say there aren't other strategies & tactics I will employ--success on Linkedin is about WAY more than simply posting content, after all--but I am going to be more intentional about breaking free from the best practices I've come to follow over the last 6 years here. 

Things like: 

- Only posting once per day
- Posting at the same time every day (usually in the AM) 
- Chasing vanity metrics (I don't really, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about them...) 

There's this weird stigma on Linkedin that every post has to be a banger. That it's not worth sharing unless you're maximizing distribution & engagement. 

It afflicts even those of us who actively try to resist that line of thinking because you can't really escape it. 

Try harder to escape it. 

Your resume = what you've done, where you've done it and when. 
Linkedin = who you are, how you do what you do, and why. 

The combination is your personal brand & professional reputation. 

The former precedes you. 
The latter follows you. 

Neither are made better or worse based on how your posts perform. 

It's a new world with Linkedin's 360Brew AI system. The old rules don't apply anymore. And anyone who tells you they do is probably making those claims having analyzed a bunch of old data... 

Which is pointless at this point. 

In 2026, I'm channeling my favorite philosopher, PopEye, who says: "I y'am, what I y'am" 

And that's enough. 

I encourage you to do the same. 

Strategy is important, but it isn't more important than who you are and what you have to say, especially if the former dilutes the latter. 

My advice: 

Be yourself. 
Follow your fascination. 
Feed your curiosity. 
Post your passion. 
Pour into peeps.
Be consistent. 
Be patient. 
Have fun. 

Watch what happens. 

Let's have a great year, my friends! 

Hi5, 
LD
🌶️
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This one's for my fellow dog owners... 

The other day, a weird triangle box showed up on my doorstep while I was working and when I opened it, I found this AI-generated portrait of my dog, Lucky DarmoDoodle, looking far more classy and refined than is reality. 

Turns out my wife found this site called Vogue Paws that will turn any photo of your hound into a portrait worth framing. 

This is not an ad for that service, I just think it's cool. 

I'm curious...

Do you have a pet? 

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

Dear Leaders, 

Please stop putting random hour-long meetings on people's calendars without context. 

Sincerely, 
Everyone who's ever worked for someone else.

Underrated life hack: 

Make others feel seen, heard, & understood.

Too many people think that all you have to do is show up a few times per week on Linkedin, write a few posts, and start drinking from a lead firehose. That doesn’t work here anymore.

5 years ago it may have, but not now. 

Building your brand/business on Linkedin requires so much more than simply publishing content.

Linkedin is a signal farm and your ability to pay attention to and engage with those signals is what determines your success here. 

I view it as a funnel exercise.

Once you see it that way, you can’t unsee it. 

I always say that Linkedin is the world’s largest CRM, and the leads are already built in and pre-qualified for you (if you build your network right). 

This is the Linkedin Signal Funnel. 

Do you view it this way, too? 

Hi5,
LD

graphical user interface, text, application

Today I went for a 30-minute walk and talk where I actually held my iPhone up to my ear the entire time like it was 2007. It was weird. Do not recommend.

I bet I’ve said “I wish I knew how to code” hundreds of times over the last two decades. I definitely have had no shortage of app ideas. 

I’ve been hearing so much about vibecoding and dabbled a little bit, but never built anything that actually worked on my phone.   

Until last night, when Sitting in front of the TV watching football, I vibecoded my first functional mobile app using ChatGPT and Claude Code.

I:

-> installed Node.js
—> used it to run Expo from the terminal
—->used Expo Go on my phone to preview the app

Things I knew nothing about prior. 

And in 2 hours I coded a functional MVP of an app I’ve been thinking was a good idea since becoming a father. 

It ain’t pretty (yet), but it’s functional. 

And I’m feeling pretty proud of myself, not to mention I really enjoyed the whole experience. It’s kind of like solving a puzzle.

All in my native tongue. 
No programming knowledge necessary. 

What a time to be alive! 

I’m curious… 

Have you used AI to build any software yet? 

Hi5
LD
🌶️

Are you a generalist or a specialist? 

I spent the better part of the first twenty years of my career feeling pretty insecure about the fact that I was more of a Swiss Army knife than a specialist. 

I was genuinely surprised when I would get new opportunities with higher titles because we've been taught to believe that you don't climb the ladder unless you have a very specific set of skills and scope. 

But being a generalist has always been my natural motion. I’ve always been too curious and too fascinated by too many things to just focus on one. 

These days I see articles about how “the future belongs to generalists” and companies are focusing on cultivating T-shaped talent—people with depth in one area and breadth across many others. 

I'm excited about this narrative and a lot more comfortable embracing that jack-of-many trades moniker nowadays than ever before.

Excited about the future.

I’m curious: 

Do you consider yourself more of a specialist or generalist? 

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

P.S. this post started as a comment on Conor Grennan’s recent post about generalists. Go follow him for fantastic AI thought leadership content.

I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing a lot of new faces viewing/following/connecting these days and for the most part they are exactly the types of people I generally want to be talking to:

Founders at tech companies
Fractional executives 
Executive coaches 
Marketing folks
Comms folks
Ops folks
AI folks 

Come to think of it, that is a lot. I guess I like to talk to a wide variety of people, but regardless, I’m seeing a lot more of them and I like it. 

I think LinkedIn’s new 360Brew AI system is brewin! 

How’s LinkedIn treating you these days? 

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

I just crossed 300,000 words whispered through Wispr Flow 
(apparently that’s the equivalent of three books!) 
Over the last six months, I’ve dictated an average of 103 words per minute, across 79 different apps. Slack. LinkedIn comments. Emails. Texts. Notes. Everywhere.

Wispr Flow is the best tool I found in 2025. 

It’s one of those special products that revealed a problem I didn’t realize I had—I didn’t realize how much mental load typing created until I didn’t have to do it anymore.

Same way Uber changed how I thought about taxis.
Same way Tesla changed how I thought about driving.

Once I stopped typing and started thinking out loud, everything just felt so much more natural.

With AI, I can dictate stream-of-consciousness thoughts and let the machine do the cleanup. The result is faster output and more authentic writing. I’m no longer switching modes from “thinking” to “typing.” 

I just think and talk. 

That’s a massive unlock.

I’m usually an early adopter with a pretty high bar, which means I moves on quickly from most new products I try. 

Not this one. 

Wispr Flow is now core to how I work.

If you want to try it, you get 2,000 words free. Fair warning though… there’s a very good chance you’ll end up paying the $15/month.

(Sorry, not sorry)

Check it out here and get in flow!!!! 

👉 https://lnkd.in/epMgJFez

Hi5,
LD 
🌶️

P.S. Not a paid partnership. I just genuinely love this product!

It's now been a little more than three years since ChatGPT launched on November 30th, 2022. And it's so wild how much AI is changing virtually every aspect of our lives. 

I started using ChatGPT the day it came out and was a paid user within a week.

Then Claude hit the scene and I started using that. 
Then Perplexity. 
Then Gemini. 
Then Grok. 

ChatGPT's first mover advantage is strong in my case, which gives it an unfair advantage over the others because I do use it as my default for most things. 

I like Claude better for writing. 

I'm intrigued to see how much market share Gemini is gaining though I haven't really committed much time to using Gemini myself.  

I don't really mess with Grok. 

I know some people who are all-in on one thing. I know other people who use different LLMs for different purposes. I think I fall into the latter bucket but ChatGPT remains my primary for most things. And I struggle to balance usage across all effectively. 

I'm now at the point where I might be looking for that thing I did the other day and having to check multiple LLMs. 

One of my goals in 2026 is to streamline my AI stack and focus on deciding which one is really the best one for me all-around rather than defaulting to ChatGPT because it's been around for me the longest.

And so, I'm curious...

If you could only use ONE of the major AI LLMs going forward, which one would you pick? BONUS POINTS for telling us why in the comments. 

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

If I had to pick just two social networks to spend time on, it would be Substack and LinkedIn. 

Why? 

Because they're pretty complementary to one another and most people on Substack link to their LinkedIn profile, you can easily find and follow in both places. 

Admittedly, I spend more time on LinkedIn than I do Substack right now, because I’ve built a larger and more engaged following here. But I plan to increase the time I spend on Substack significantly.

Why? 

Because Substack lets me build a more direct, owned connection with my audience and because it’s a much better platform from a usability standpoint. 

It’s like Substack has gone to all the other socials, taken notes about what sucks, and built the solution. 

I’m increasingly starting to view the two this way: 

Linkedin is where you build your personal brand. 
Substack is where you build (and monetize!) your personal media empire. 

Linkedin is top of funnel.
Substack is middle of funnel. 

Going forward, I’m: 

Incredibly bullish on Substack. 
Incredibly bullish on LinkedIn. 
Insanely bullish on the two of them paired together. 

Are you on substack? 

Drop your link below if so. 

Here’s mine: https://lnkd.in/eEZA6RHN

Hi5,
LD
🌶️

“DAD!! Stop using ChatGPT to play Monopoly!” 

Whoops.

You had one job…

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve gone to an ATM in the last 365 days. Today was one of those rare visits (to get money for babysitter tonight, which is literally my only use case for cash anymore), and of course…

When I reinstalled Linkedin on my phone after my 2-week hiatus, something was different. Namely, dark mode was gone. I don’t know if you use Linkedin in dark mode or light mode, but I’ve been using dark mode for years. I’m like Dracula when i see light mode. 

And so, I’m curious…

What’s your default background setting for Linkedin? 

Looking for a job in 2026? Read this. 
 
On Thursday January 8th, my good friend Angie Callen, PCC, MJSC and 25 of her closest career coaching friends are hosting the 2026 Job Seeker Summit, a FREE virtual event showcasing expert advice from globally-recognized career coaches, resume writers, recruiters and... 

Somehow me. 

Fun fact: my first foray into Linkedin coaching was in 2009 when I launched TalentFish Consulting on a mission to help jobseekers cast a wider net. It was after a layoff and I thought: "teaching people how to network their way into their next opportunity sounds fun... let's do it!"

Only it was short lived because I networked myself into a new job shortly thereafter and didn't have time for side hustles. 

But the principles I taught then are even more valid today and 2026 is going to be a big year on Linkedin, so you might as well jump into some of these sessions to learn from those who know it best. 

The 2026 Jobseeker Summit starts at 9am MOUNTAIN time on Jan 8th and here's the lineup: 

9AM: Event welcome + resume AMA
10:30: Resume Breakout Sessions
11:30: Interview AMA: Real talk on Modern Interviews
1:15: Job Search AMA: Beyond the Boards
2:30: Job Search Breakout Sessions
3:30: AI Panel: From ChatGPT to CareerGPT (this is the one I'm on!)
4:15: Mindset Panel: Bounce Back & Burnout Recovery

Hear from 25 different career coaches, resume writers, and recruiters. 

For free.

Don't pinch yourself. It's true. 

Whether you're looking for a new job or not, the things you'll learn at the Job Seeker Summit are worth the time and price of admission (remember, it's FREE). 

Pre-register for access to giveaways during the day and ALL recordings from the event here: https://lnkd.in/eeGfPgdG

See you there! 
LD
🌶️

2026 Job Seeker Summit - Jan 8th - 9AM MT - FREE!

Unexpected benefit of taking two weeks off of LinkedIn: “it can only get better from here” 🤪Happy to be back. I love this place.

CEO at GroLink.io & Gro3.io I Get more leads with AI

Data leader with 10+ years amplifying brands like Apple, Google, Uber, and Amazon through actionable insights. At Engine, I launched our London strategic research practice and unified fragmented data into a singular analytics platform. I founded data & insights teams at Social Chain and Flight Story. As Flight Story's Chief Data Officer, I unveiled the Flight Deck platform, addressing market intelligence gaps for clients. I actively invest in digital startups and speak on AI, Web3, and branding. With certifications in data science, I build with Python and SQL and am experienced in OpenAI's API. I thrive on transforming challenges into success in fast-paced settings.

McVal Osborne

Web3 BD salary benchmarks I'm seeing for 2026:

Junior BD (0-2 yrs): $60-90K + token allocation
Mid BD (2-5 yrs): $90-140K + tokens
Senior/Head of BD: $140-200K + meaningful equity
VP BD at funded startup: $180-250K + 0.5-1.5%

Variables that significantly move the needle:

→ Infrastructure vs app layer (L1s/L2s pay 20-40% more)
→ Funding stage (Series A+ has budget, pre-seed pays in hope)
→ Geographic arbitrage (US-based roles pay more even for remote)
→ Revenue responsibility (quota-carrying vs relationship BD)

If you're significantly under these ranges, you have leverage in 2026. The talent pool is thin and experienced Web3 BD people are in demand.

What are you seeing in your market?

Interesting pattern I'm noticing:

Projects with 100K+ Twitter followers but <$1M TVL are almost always hiring for marketing.

Makes sense: They built community but haven't converted to product usage.

If you're selling marketing/growth services in Web3, that's your ICP.

Big audience + low usage = they know they have a conversion problem.

A founder shared their KOL nightmare:

Paid $5K for a post to an account with 1M followers.

Post-campaign analysis: ~10K were real, engaged followers.

The rest? Bots. Inactive. Purchased.

That's $500 per 1K actual reach. For comparison, you can run targeted ads for $5-15 CPM.

How to spot this before paying:

→ Check engagement rate (real accounts: 2-5%, botted: <0.5%)
→ Look at reply quality (real conversation vs "🔥🔥🔥")
→ Use a tool to analyze follower authenticity
→ Ask for case studies with actual conversion data

The KOL industry in Web3 is still the wild west.

Due diligence isn't optional.

I stopped going to most Web3 conferences. Here's what I do instead:

1. Host small dinners (8-12 people, curated guest list)
More deals happen over dinner than on conference floors.

2. DM speakers before events
They're more responsive the week before than during. "Saw you're speaking at X, wanted to connect ahead of time."

3. Join ecosystem-specific Discord calls
Smaller, more focused, free. The Base ecosystem calls have been more valuable than any conference.

4. Podcast swaps with founders at my stage
Mutual audience growth + relationship building.

Conferences have their place. But the ROI for BD is usually:

→ Expensive flights
→ Exhausting days
→ Business cards that go nowhere

Conferences are for visibility. Relationships are built in smaller rooms.

Talked to a founder building an AI-powered hedge fund.

Their marketing challenge is unique:

"The only material that makes us trustable is track record. We've been live for 1 month. We need 3-4 more months before we can really market."

For financial products, there is no shortcut.

→ No content hack
→ No growth trick
→ No viral moment that bypasses credibility

Just time and results.

This is hard to accept in an industry obsessed with speed.

But some things can't be rushed. Some businesses have to earn trust the slow way.

If you're building something that requires track record, embrace the timeline. Use the waiting period to build everything else.

Then when the data is there, you're ready to move.

Had a fascinating conversation with a market maker founder.

His challenge: "People don't want cold outreach from us. Everyone thinks market makers are shady."

This is an underrated BD problem: industry reputation.

When your entire sector has trust issues, the normal playbook doesn't work.

What does work:

1. Content first, outreach second
Build public credibility before sliding into DMs.

2. Referrals become essential
Cold = automatic skepticism. Warm intro = you're vouched for.

3. Transparency as differentiation
If everyone's hiding, being open becomes your edge.

4. Longer timelines
You're not just selling a service. You're overcoming industry baggage.

Some industries need to earn the right to DM.

If you're in one of them, your BD strategy has to account for it.

The 5 red flags I look for before taking a BD call:

1. "Let's explore synergies" with no specifics
If they can't name what they want, they don't know.

2. Won't say their budget range
"We're flexible" usually means "we have no budget."

3. Need to "run it by the team" for everything
You're not talking to a decision maker.

4. Last funding was 2+ years ago with no revenue
They might love what you offer but can't pay.

5. Can't articulate what success looks like in 90 days
No clear goal = no urgency = deal goes nowhere.

I used to take every call. Now I qualify harder upfront.

Result: Fewer calls, higher close rate, less frustration.

Your time is worth protecting.

The difference between BD people who get promoted and those who don't:

It's not volume. It's not "hustle."

It's documentation.

Top performers track:
→ Win rate by lead source
→ Response rate by message type
→ Time from first touch to close
→ Which objections kill deals
→ Seasonality patterns

Average performers just count meetings booked.

After 6 years watching BD teams in Web3, the pattern is clear: the ones who rise fastest treat their outreach like a product. They A/B test. They iterate. They have receipts when asking for resources.

Data compounds. Gut feel doesn't.

What metrics do you track?

Building in public update — Week 3 of GroLeads:

What's working:
→ "Last funding date" filter getting heavy usage
→ Users exporting smaller, more targeted lists (quality > quantity mindset)
→ DM status filter saving hours of wasted outreach

What surprised me:
→ Agencies are 40% of early users (expected mostly in-house BD teams)
→ People want ecosystem filters more than I anticipated

What I got wrong:
→ Assumed everyone wants more data. They actually want less, but better.
→ Overbuilt some features, underbuilt others

Shipping improvements to filtering this week based on feedback.

The messy middle of building is uncomfortable but necessary.

24 million views. 16 hours. You refresh and the number keeps climbing.

Anthropic just hijacked every tech feed on the planet. Honestly, fair play to them. This is what happens when the marketing is as good as the product. 

But I think everyone's got it wrong.

I'm seeing LOADS of takes about how Claude Cowork makes Claude Code accessible. How non-technical people can finally build software. How localhost 3000 will finally mean something to the masses. How Lovable and Bolt should be worried. 

Wrong target, in my opinion.

This isn't about building software. This is about orchestrating workflows. Stating what you want and watching the machine figure out the plumbing. Different game entirely.

You know who should actually be paying attention? n8n. Make. Zapier.

The "low-code" platforms that aren't actually low-code. I've built automations in n8n and Make, I use them all the time. And you're still fiddling with triggers, pasting webhooks, pasting code and parsing JSON. Often i find myself debugging at midnight when the workflow breaks and I can't figure out why a specific code node refuses to work.

That's not low-code. That's code wearing a costume.

Cowork is showing something different. You state intent. AI orchestrates. You interrupt mid-task with something new and it doesn't break, it adapts. No nodes. No pipes. No praying the webhook fires correctly.

Now here's the thing.

So many businesses I talk to are stuck on the same question. How do we actually use AI? How do we make this real? And they're waiting. Waiting for it to be ready. Waiting for the bugs to be fixed. Waiting for someone else to go first.

That's the wrong move.

The secret honestly is to stay close to what the market leaders are doing. Experiment at the edges. Learn what's broken now so you're ready when it isn't.

Get in there. Test it, break it. See what it can't do yet.

Anthropic is showing us where this is heading. The interface is slick, and their vision (appears from the outside at least) to be clear.

It's still in research mode so let's see what happens. But you should be playing with this now.

Hot take: Most Web3 "partnerships" fail because BD people skip the awkward question.

The awkward question:

"What does success look like for you in 90 days?"

If they can't answer specifically, the deal will drift into the void of "let's circle back" and "still interested, just busy."

Here's why this question is magic:

1. It forces them to think about ROI before signing
2. It reveals if they have budget/authority to act
3. It gives you a concrete thing to deliver against
4. It creates natural urgency and a check-in point

No clear success metric = no urgency = no follow-through.

I've learned to ask this in the first call, not the third. Feels awkward. Saves months of wasted pipeline.

Great piece from Jennifer Stephens on how companies like a16z build "infrastructure of belief", shaping what feels inevitable, not just selling products.

The uncomfortable flip side: LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram are belief infrastructure too. They've encoded "engagement = value" so deeply we don't question it. Every angry comment, every doomscroll, reinforces the frame.

What would counter-infrastructure look like? Tools built on a different conviction, that genuine value exchange matters more than reactions. And crucially: letting users help build that belief system themselves. 

Conviction you co-create is conviction that sticks.

CMO / CRO ▪️ Generalist ▪️AI - Crypto - D2C ▪️ ✍🏻 I write about the intersection of culture, technology and business

I just published my first article of the year - I was inspired by a16z and their recent media strategy. 

This isn't about polishing your brand and launching a new comms platform. It's a full operational overhaul aligned to a category or belief meant to inspire customers and peers. 

Patagonia built belief earlier than most brands. Apple took a stand for creatives. Some would say OpenAI started this way - though it's hard to stand on solid ground in emerging tech.

A strong belief is the best tool to surface in AI as well. So many people are taking tactical advice on GEO - write this article, focus on this phrase. Sure, that works. You'll surface in some areas. But you won't own your category and you won't command share of voice like a brand that takes a risk and builds a consistent narrative - owns a future category. "Don't Die" is the clearest example. If I think longevity, I think "Don't Die." It's a religion, a platform, a belief system.

Give it a read. I think this framing is a useful model for understanding how to create and capture a category. 🫶

Yesterday I was talking to someone about hiring. I said we'd soon see job listings for "Chief Vibe Coder" on LinkedIn. Half joking, half serious. 
This morning LinkedIn dropped their 2026 "Jobs on the Rise" for the UK:
#1: AI Engineer (3.3 years median experience)
#2: Head of AI (7.6 years median experience)
#10: ML Researcher (3.0 years median experience)

Three of the top ten fastest-growing roles. The demand is real.

But look at where these people are coming from:
#1 AI Engineers transitioned from Software Engineers, Data Scientists, and ML Engineers. Technical builders making lateral moves into AI. 
Median experience: 3.3 years.

#2 Heads of AI transitioned from Software Engineers, Directors of Business Strategy, and Heads of Data Science. A mix of builders and strategists, but "Director of Business Strategy" stands out. 
Median experience: 7.6 years.

#10 ML Researchers transitioned from Data Scientists, ML Engineers, and Research Instructors. The academic path. 
Median experience: 3.0 years.

See the pattern?

Companies are hiring strategists to lead AI. And builders to execute it.
That's backwards.

The median Head of AI has 7.6 years of experience. 
But GPT-3 launched 5 years ago. 
ChatGPT launched 3 years ago. 

Most of what we call "AI strategy" today didn't exist before 2022.

So what does 7.6 years of experience actually mean in this context? 

It means experience in adjacent fields. Data science. Business strategy. "Digital transformation."

That's not the same as having built and shipped AI products.

I've talked to companies trying to implement AI. The consistent problem: they hire for credentials that don't map to the current landscape. They want "experts", but the experts with a decade of LLM experience don't exist.

What actually works: hiring vibe coders. Builders who learn fast. People who've shipped 10 AI experiments and failed at 6 of them. Self-starters who taught themselves because there was no curriculum.

The UK has a specific challenge here. We're not culturally comfortable claiming expertise without years of credentials. But in AI, everyone is relatively new. The honest answer is "I've been deep in this for 2 years and I ship constantly." That should be a strength, not a disqualifier.

If you're hiring for AI: Stop filtering for years. Start filtering for velocity.

The person who built 5 AI products in 2024 will outperform the strategist who's been planning AI initiatives since 2019.

And if you're a builder thinking about moving into AI: This is your window.

The credentials haven't caught up to the opportunity yet. The barriers are lower than they'll ever be again. Companies desperately need people who can actually ship, not just strategise.

Learn fast. Build constantly. The vibe coder era is real.

We're not at the end of the AI hiring boom. We're at the beginning.

The best time to get in is now.

Two-column text comparing hires: companies pick Head of AI/Directors with business tenure, while recommended leaders are builders and AI engineers with 3.3 years building.

How to get warm intros in crypto without being annoying:

Most people do it backwards. They ask for the intro first, then try to prove relevance.

Flip it:

1. Engage publicly first (2 weeks minimum)
Reply to their posts. Add substance, not just "great post!"

2. Add value in their space
Share their content with your take. Answer questions they ask.

3. Ask your mutual the right way
"Would [name] find this relevant?" not "Can you intro me?"

4. Let them opt-in
"If you think it makes sense, happy to send a short note you can forward."

Cold intro requests feel like spam.
Warm intro requests feel like opportunity.

The difference is 10 minutes of groundwork that most people skip.

Underrated BD skill: Knowing when to walk away.

Signs a deal isn't worth pursuing:
→ They keep rescheduling (3+ reschedules = not a priority)
→ Decision timeline keeps moving ("next month" becomes "next quarter")
→ Scope creep before signing (they want more before committing to anything)
→ "Can you do this for exposure?" (exposure doesn't pay rent)
→ Multiple stakeholders, none empowered to decide

I used to chase every opportunity until it died.

Now I set clear timelines and enforce them.

"If we can't move forward by [date], let's reconnect when timing is better."

Chasing bad deals is expensive. Not in money — in opportunity cost.

The best BD people have short "no" lists and long "focus" lists.

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